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Aironar
Aironar is a kingdom on the central-western coast of Westrar between the Bay of Eivonir and Varlainar, the Ewaric Kingdom to the south. It existed for three thousand years, since Falir moved into the west to combat Sorthor and took up residence in those lands with his Ewar. With the sinking of the lands of Eivonir under the waves, Aironar gradually became more isolated from the rest of Westrar, and stopped engaging in regional politics. The land was further isolated by the Aironvuor, and lacked any major trading ports. It had been ruled since its foundation by the kings of the House of Nardon, the sons of Falir and his Ewar wife. History The history of Aironar begins with King Eldan I of the Falirim, a descendant of Virean. Eldan founded the kingdom after the great host of the East marched to meet Sorthor’s army in the then-uninhabited lands of the West; after the war, the Falirim Ewar settled in the lands, including Eldan himself, who proclaimed the new kingdom. It encompassed all the lands between the Western sea and the Aironvuor. To the North was the Bay of Eivonir, where Sorthor had resided before his lands had sunk beneath the waves after the war. To the East was the kingdom of Fervoron, meaning ''‘eight hills’ ''in Valmar. Eldan’s lined ruled for many years, and the kings of Aironar were regarded as the noblest outside of Eirenval. They bore the name Nardon. Conquest of Fervoron Following Itsain, his son Ellian expanded into the East, where the kingdom of Fervoron lay, ruled from the powerful city of Gonvoron. It was inhabited and ruled by the Ewar remaining under Sorthor’s control. Gonvoron had taken control of the surrounding lands, ranging from Avenetelar in the East, Orphenaen in the North, Bir Vuoren in the South and the Aironvuor in the West; this cemented it as a major power in the region. All the while, Ellian feared the day that Gonvoron's King would march his armies over the mountains to Vaian Val. However, not least did he fear the power of the King's sword, known as Carnaer.To that end, in the year 350 of the Second Days, a hundred years after Eldan’s death, Ellian marched forth into Fervoron and began to drive Sorthor’s people from the lands. Ellian began the campaign by marching through a pass in the Aironvuor, then sweeping through the countryside, destroying all in sight. There were few losses on his own side until he reached the enemy city of Gonvoron by the Varvis Sea. There, he laid siege to the city for two weeks before its defences finally gave way, and the city was sacked. However, most of its people had already fled to the lands of the North and South. From Gonvoron, Ellian split his forces in three, sending one third to capture Avenetelar, another third to capture the south-east, and another to capture the south-west, while the King himself remained behind. These forces overcame most resistance from the supporters of Fervoron, though the southwest campaign faltered against the might of Bir Vuoren. However, it is said that at the city of Miarrelar, the strength of his host was such that the siege lasted only minutes, yet two Fervoronian exile kingdoms remained: the lands ruled by Bir Vuoren in the South and the lands ruled by Orphenaen in the North. Overall, the Fervoron campaign was a success for Ellian, who had effectively tripled his lands; Aironar stretched from the city of Birakar in the West, to what remained of Fervoron in the far North and South, and almost to the city of Tuined. These lands were divided into four Lordships, all subject to Aironar. There were the Vuorenian marches in the farthest south; the land of Involisar, ruled from Involis; the Orphinaen marches along the Northen border; and Gonvoronar, ruled from Gonvoron. Decline of Orphinaen The Kingdom held these lands for a short time, known as the Forty Year's Peace. The Kingdoms of Vuoren and Orphinaen aligned themselves with Aironar to ensure their own survival; thus, the alliance was known as the League of Eivonir (the Eivonir being a bay to the North of Orphinaen and Aironar). The terms of the alliance were heavily biased against the two smaller kingdoms. They were unable to wall their cities or build fortresses, whilst Eilian himself had commissioned the construction of defences close to the borders of Vuoren and Orphinaen. Furthermore, stationing armed forces within fifty miles of the border was considered to be a breach of the alliance; however, Aironar often did so without penalty. After forty years of peace, the new King of Orphinaen, named Luiden, broke the alliance by building Luiden's Wall, a series of large fortresses and watch-towers spaced along a wall, which of course required the use of armed forces to garrison the defences. Vuoren was swift to appeal to Aironar to stop them, as it was a breaking of the alliance. However, when the King of Vuoren, named Imuin (himself a cousin of Luiden), realised that Aironar would not enforce the terms of the alliance and force Luiden to remove the defenses, he chose to arm himself. This proved to be foolish; Vuoren, the weaker of the two exile kingdoms, had already been reduced to a subservient city-state, and its taking up of arms was used as a pretext for war. Eilian once again led his army against Vuoren and this time was successful, bringing the once great port city into its clutches. Orphinaen, after the conquest of Vuoren, took steps to arm itself further, though when Aironar's armies retreated over the Aironuor, Luiden relaxed his forces. The fall of Orphinaen came six years later. Aironar had again deployed its armies to garrison lands within fifty miles of the border, and so Orphinaen positioned its own men beside the border. Tension rose, reaching a high when a Ewar of Aironar was killed by an arrow fired from Luiden's wall. However, war never came of it as Of significant importance to Luiden was the port of Avenetelar; Orphinaen possessed no ports on the coastline of the Varvis sea. Therefore, when tension began de-escalating, instead of moving his army further from the border he positioned it slightly further to the East to allow for a swift march upon the city. It was six years before he made an attempt to take the city. He began by marching over the hills and forests that formed most of the boundary between his own Kingdom and Aironar to the South, and though beset by treacherous conditions, his army of 20,000 reached the Avenetelar intact. They proceeded to lay siege against the city, which had been evacuated before their arrival, and were successful in doing so. When Luiden had cleared the city of all Ellian's warriors, he set fire to the palace and had the bodies of his most trusted men left hanging from wooden poles upon the hill where it had stood. Ellian was incensed, and immediately gathered a similarly sized army, while Luiden left his commanders to lead Avenetelar's defense and rode for the city of Tuiden to seek assistance.